France_ manhunt underway for suspect who rammed soldiers in Paris suburb Levallois-Perret
French police have arrested a suspect after a car plowed into six soldiers near their barracks in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret early Wednesday.
France24, 09 August 2017 – Of the six soldiers, three sustained minor injuries and the other three have injuries less serious than initially feared, Defence Minister Florence Parly told reporters.
Security sources have told Agence France-Presse that the suspect “born in 1980” has been shot and taken into custody. He was intercepted on the A16 motorway north of the French capital in the BMW used in the attack.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has confirmed that the “main suspect” arrested on the motorway between Paris and Boulogne-sur-Mer was driving the car that was involved in the attack.
The vehicle appeared to clearly target the soldiers but the motive is as yet unclear, a Paris police spokesman said.
The vehicle appeared to clearly target the soldiers but the motive is unclear, a Paris police spokesman added.
The incident took place at about 8:00 am (0600 GMT) outside the soldiers’ military barracks in the northwestern Paris suburb.
Witnesses described seeing one person inside the car waiting in a cul-de-sac near a building used for Operation Sentinelle [the counter-terrorism unit deployed across France and abroad] soldiers, according to two police officials. One official said the attacker struck just as the group of soldiers emerged from the building to start their shift.
Eye-witness account
Local resident Tess Despres Pereira witnessed events from her window:
“When I saw the soldiers on alert I realized something serious was happening,” she told FRANCE 24. “Some tended to the injured while others sought to secure the neighborhood. It’s a very disturbing thing to see. You don’t imagine this can happen in front of your home.”
WAS THIS A TERRORIST ATTACK?
Paris Suburb incident_ A premeditated attack, a hideous act of violence, says town mayor
Patrick Balkany, the local mayor for the western Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, called Wednesday’s incident an “odious attack” and had “no doubt” that it was a deliberate act.
“A BMW pre-positioned itself in the alley (where the barracks is located) and barreled into them,” he said to France’s BFM TV station. He said the car “accelerated very quickly when they left” the building.
A security perimeter has been installed around the scene, and the Paris police chief and regional prosecutor are expected at the site Wednesday morning.
President Emmanuel Macron is to hold a previously scheduled top-level security meeting later Wednesday.
String of deadly attacks
France has been on high alert since January 2015, when gunmen killed 17 people in attacks at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Kosher supermarket. Several bars and restaurants in Paris, including the Bataclan concert hall, were targeted in attacks that left 130 dead on November 13 of that same year. A truck rammed through a festive crowd gathered for a Bastille Day fireworks display in Nice in July 2016, leaving more than 80 people dead.
There have also been a string of smaller, “lone wolf” attacks targeting France’s security forces.
Just on Saturday, an 18-year-old with a history of psychological problems was arrested on Saturday at the Eiffel Tower after brandishing a knife and shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest). He told investigators he wanted to kill a soldier.
France remains in a state of emergency and at its highest terror warning level.
France is also part of the US-led international coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group and has carried out air strikes against the extremist group in Syria.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, REUTERS)